Computer aided system for teaching reading

ABSTRACT

A method of teaching reading includes displaying, by an application executing on a computing device, a singing exercise configured to allow a user to sing along as a song is played. Lyrics of the song are displayed as the song plays, thus allowing the user to read the lyrics as the user sings along to the song. An audio input is monitored as the song is played. A score representing how accurately the audio input matches the song is calculated. The score is provided to the user. A series of target pitch lines representative of target pitches on the display and a target pitch area encompassed about each target pitch line may be displayed. A pitch tracking line from the audio input may be computed and displayed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application under 37 C.F.R. §1.53(d) of patentapplication Ser. No. 11/853,062, filed Sep. 11, 2007, which is acontinuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 11/137,025, filedMay 25, 2005 (now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,271,329), which claimspriority to provisional application 60/576,233, filed May 28, 2004. Allof the above-referenced disclosures are incorporated herein by referencein their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to computer-aided learning systems forfacilitating the annunciation of human voice. More particularly, thisinvention relates to computer-aided learning systems that facilitatevocalizations such as singing and/or reading.

Presently, there exist many systems for teaching a person how to sing intune and on beat. Commonly, the prior art systems focus more on thetechnology employed than the visual presentation to the singer.Accordingly, without an appropriate visual interface for the singer, theprior art systems are of nominal benefit to teaching the singer how tosing in tune and on beat. Representative patents of such prior artsystems are disclosed below.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,413 entitled “Vocal Display Device” discloses akaraoke device that displays the strength of the singer's voice on adisplay screen. However, this patent fails to disclose a meaningfulvisual representation of whether the singer is singing in tune.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,687 discloses a “Musical Performance System” inwhich the vocal signal of the singer and the musical signal of a musicalinstrument are recorded on separate tracks and then compared, the resultof which is displayed via a LED display to indicate the results of suchcomparison.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,789 discloses a “Music Training Apparatus” includingone or more tone sources that are displayed as fixed-sized “bars” on adisplay and the singer's voice is displayed in the form of a pitchtracking line.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,525,062 and 5,906,494 disclose a “Training Apparatusfor Singing” in which the singer's vocal characteristics are comparedwith a model vocal characteristic to evaluate the singer's vocalcharacteristics relative to the model. The result of a comparison oftune error is displayed in the form of color-coded musical notes.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,213 discloses a karaoke teaching apparatus thatanalyzes a singing voice to detect a musical register thereof at whichthe live vocal part is actually performed.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,417,435 discloses an audio-acoustic proficiency testingdevice that transduces, captures, measures, compares, analyzes, recordsand then reports on a singer's performance.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,617,503 discloses a vocal training device includingplayback modes of melody only, harmony only, melody and harmony and amulti-unit playback of melody, harmony and harmony components.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,108 discloses a system and method for interpretationand visualization of acoustic spectra to discover the pitch and timbreof musical sounds via display of a pitch tracking line.

Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,789 discloses a tone analysis system with avisual display in the form of sheet music containing a musical staff andlighted musical notes.

The disclosure of each of the above-listed patents is herebyincorporated by reference herein.

Commercial prior art systems include ™“Sing & See” produced by CantareSystems of Surry Hills, Australia. In the ™“Sing & See” system, a pitchtracking line is displayed on a computer screen as the singer sings.Another commercialized implementation includes ™“Singing Tutor”published by Vimas of Kiev, Ukraine that displays a pitch tracking lineon a computer screen in real time as the singer sings. Still anotherincludes ™“Sing” formerly published by now-defunct Music Player as wellas ™“Karaoke Revolution” and “Audio Mirror” produced by Konami of Tokyo,Japan and ECS Media of Champaign, Ill., respectively. However, ™“Sing”,™“Karaoke Revolution” and ™“Audio Mirror” systems do not display a realtime tracking line. For example, in the case of ™“Karaoke Revolution”, avisual representation of “pitch tubes” are “lit up” when the singersings each note in tune, but it does not employ a real time pitchtracking line.

It should be appreciated from the foregoing that the prior art systemsteach in general the use of a real time tracking line. However, none ofthe prior art systems visually quantifies the accuracy of a singersinging in tune or out-of-tune in a manner that teaches the singer howmuch to raise or lower the tone of their voice as the song is beingsung. Accordingly, presently there exists a need for a computer-aidedlearning system that employs a pitch tracking line and displays it in away that a singer may, in real time, adjust upwardly or downwardly thetone of their voice while singing.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvementwhich overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devicesand provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to theadvancement of the computer-aided learning systems.

Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learningsystem employing a pitch tracking line enclosed within target pitchboxes to visually quantify singing in tune and in rhythm.

Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learningsystem employing target pitch boxes that are reduced in size dependingon the desired ease in learning how to sing each note in tune.

Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learningsystem employing a pitch tracking line and target pitch boxes that maybe reduced in length to allow a singer to more easily transition fromone note to another.

Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learningsystem employing a pitch tracking line that determines a singer'scomfortable vocal range and transposes the key of a prearranged songaccordingly.

Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learningsystem employing a pitch tracking line that determines a singer'scomfortable vocal range and increases or decreases the key of aprearranged song by one or more octaves.

Another object of this invention is to provide a computer-aided learningsystem employing a pitch tracking line that includes a scoring systemfor numerically quantifying how accurately a singer sang in tune andrhythm.

The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of theinvention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrativeof some of the more prominent features and applications of the intendedinvention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying thedisclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the inventionwithin the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and afuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to thesummary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferredembodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by theclaims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

For the purpose of summarizing this invention, this invention comprisesa computer-aided learning system to facilitate a human to control thepitch of their voice such as in singing a song. The invention furtherfacilitates a human to control the rhythm of their voice. Accordingly,the software of the invention teaches one to “sing in tune” and “inrhythm”.

The invention includes numerous features that act like “training wheels”for the person who has difficulty carrying a tune. A primary feature isa visual, real-time depiction of the user's actual pitch compared to the“target” pitch they should be singing. The invention further includes ascoring system for measuring and logging improvements in the user'sability to control his pitch.

More particularly, the invention comprises a visual depiction of pitchcalled the pitch tracking line (“PTL”) that shows in real-time theactual pitch the user is singing. Two views of the music are provided; aGraphic View and a Sheet Music View.

The Graphic View is a “Sing Window” and is similar to anabscissa/ordinate or “X/Y” graph. The abscissa X represents time and theordinate Y-axis represents pitch. Each pitch of each note is shown as atarget pitch line to indicate the precise pitch a user should sing. Abox is drawn about each target pitch line above and below the targetpitch line. The height of the target pitch boxes gives the user a“margin” for error such as plus or minus ½ step (beginner level), plusor minus ¼ step (intermediate level), and plus or minus ⅛ step (advancedlevel). The lyrics are preferably displayed below the target pitch box.The target pitch line is preferably a colored line (e.g., a red line)and the target pitch box is a preferably a colored box such as lightblue.

In the Sheet Music View, the “target pitches” are the note heads and thescreen mimics a piece of sheet music complete with staves, notes, rests,key signature, etc.

The invention further comprises a custom vocal range feature that allowsa user to set their personal vocal range. The user sings first up andthen down. The distance between the high and low pitch tracking lines isthen used to establish the top and bottom of the user's vocal range.Once the range is set, it is preferably depicted graphically in the SingWindow by colored horizontal (e.g., green) lines. Each song and exerciseis automatically transposed into a key that makes the song easy for theuser to sing.

The invention still further includes a scoring feature that indicateswhat percentage of time the pitch tracking line was within the targetpitch boxes, thereby being indicative of the time the song was sung “intune”. In addition to making the margin for error larger or smaller bymaking the target pitch boxes higher, boxes may be made narrower todefine the transition times at the beginning or end of each note duringwhich the user is not scored. This teaches singers to sing on beat(i.e., in rhythm) and to be on pitch at the beginning of each note asthey get better.

The invention further includes a tempo change feature that allowsslowing the tempo of more difficult songs (without changing the key)which will allow the user to more easily learn to sing the song. Afterhe learns to sing it, the tempo can be returned to normal.

The invention further includes breathing indicators. Specifically, inthe graphic view, the spots where the user should breathe are indicatedwith a “B” symbol. This insures that the user has enough breath to getthrough each phrase on pitch.

Finally, from “pitch-matching” to “a cappella”, the invention allows theuser to begin learning a song with only the melody and metronome playing(he turns off the accompaniment). In this way the user may focus onmatching the pitch of the melody and the proper rhythm only. Once theuser can get a good score in this operating mode, the user can add theaccompaniment. When that mode is mastered, the user can mute the melodyand sing only with accompaniment and metronome. Upon mastering theaccompaniment and metronome, the user can mute the accompaniment (andmetronome if desired) and sing “a cappella” which means without thesupport of any audible musical reference points.

Throughout the disclosure herein, we use a simple usage of the word“Tone” as used in the instruction of tonal languages. In this arena,linguists and instructors of tonal languages use the word “Tone” torefer to what is actually the variation in “pitch” the listener hearswhen a given word is pronounced. For example, Mandarin is a tonallanguage because every word has, along with its phonetic pronunciation,one of four tones. These four tones are flat, rising, falling, andfalling then rising. Thus, the phonetic word “Ma” can be pronounced withany one of these four tones and each one represents a unique meaning.This variation of the “Tone” in tonal languages would be viewed bymusicians as variations of the pitch.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent andimportant features of the present invention in order that the detaileddescription of the invention that follows may be better understood sothat the present contribution to the art can be more fully appreciated.Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter whichform the subject of the claims of the invention. It should beappreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and thespecific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by thoseskilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of the computer-aided learning system ofthe invention which graphically displays a pitch tracking linesuperimposed onto graphical pitch lines contained within target pitchboxes to provide a real time visual feedback of the pitch of one's voicerelative to each note of the song being sung to aid the person to singin tune with the notes of the song;

FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, and 1F are callouts depicting, respectively,target pitch areas shaped as rectangles with rounded edges, ellipticals,octagons, circles, diamonds, and hexagons;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the various components of thecomputer-aided learning system of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the process methodology of thecomputer program in its preferred embodiment to display the pitchtracking line in real time;

FIG. 4 depicts a vocal range screen and the octaves and measuresthereof;

FIG. 4 a depicts the vocal range screen used by an exemplary user tocompute the user-specific vocal range;

FIG. 5 illustrates the preferred layout of the “sing window” fordisplaying the target pitch lines and boxes on the display;

FIG. 5 a depicts the “sing window” of FIG. 5 with a user's pitchtracking line superimposed over the target lines and boxes of the songbeing sung;

FIGS. 5 b and 5 c illustrate the “sing window” of FIG. 5 a but withreduced height target pitch boxes indicative of intermediate and expertskill levels, respectively;

FIGS. 5 d and 5 e illustrates the same window as FIG. 5 a but with thelength of the target pitch boxes being increased to reduce thetransition time between adjacent notes indicative of “intermediate” and“expert” skill levels, respectively;

FIG. 6 illustrates the “sing window” of the invention with tabs allowingselection of various options;

FIGS. 7 a, 7 b, 7 c and 7 d depict the keyboard view, sheet music view,mixing board view and home view screens, respectively;

FIG. 8 a illustrates a single sing window containing two pitch trackinglines for two users;

FIG. 8 b illustrates two sing windows, stacked one on the other, for useby respective two users;

FIG. 9 a illustrates a compose window allowing the user to create asong;

FIG. 9 b illustrates the composed song of FIG. 9 a in sheet music view;

FIG. 10 depicts a Cloze-test as utilized in testing and exercising astudent;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating the process methodology of thepresent invention in a preferred embodiment to determine appropriateexercises to present to the student;

FIG. 11A is a chart illustrating the methodology utilized in determininga student's reading level;

FIG. 12 illustrates the preferred layout of the “Lesson Maker” forteachers to utilize in preparing appropriate curricula;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating the process methodology of thepresent invention in a preferred embodiment to teach non-Mandarinspeakers how to speak Mandarin;

FIG. 14 illustrates the preferred layout of the “sing window” fordisplaying a the target pitch lines and boxes on the display whenteaching Mandarin; and

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating the process methodology of thepresent invention in a preferred embodiment to record, store and sendSingtones.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, the computer-aided learning system 10 of theinvention graphically displays a pitch tracking line 12 of an input 14such as an audible input from a microphone 16 superimposed ontographical target pitch lines 18 representative of the desired pitches.In the preferred embodiment, the audible input 14 comprises a person whois singing 20 and the graphical display of the target pitch linesrepresent the musical notes 22 of the song being sung. The superpositionof the pitch tracking line 12 over the target pitch lines 18 provides areal-time visual feedback of the pitch of one's voice relative to eachnote of the song being sung. The invention therefore aids the person tosing in tune with the notes 22 of the song.

The computer-aided learning system of the invention may also be employedfor assisting a person such as a child to learn how to read 24 by“singing” the words of the text (or to learn a foreign language). Moreparticularly, it is known that some of the factors affecting a person'sability to read include phonetic awareness, phonics, word recognitionand vocabulary, comprehension and fluency. The use of the computer-aidedlearning system of the invention to sing the words of the text to belearned seems to remarkably enhance the reader's word recognition andvocabulary, comprehension and fluency.

The computer-aided learning system of the invention may also assist amusician to learn how to play a musical instrument 26 by providing avisual feedback of whether the proper notes 22 of the song are beingplayed.

Without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, thisinvention may in general be employed for assisting a person, whether anadult or a child, to learn to make audible sounds, whether vocally orwith an instrument, by providing a visual real-time feedback to theperson of the pitch of the sound superimposed onto the desired ortargeted pitch.

More particularly, referring to FIG. 2, the computer-aided learningsystem 10 of the invention comprises a computer 28 having an internal orexternal graphical display 30 (e.g., CRT, LCD, Plasma). Computer 28further includes an audio interface for receiving an input 14 such asfrom the microphone 16 and for providing an audio output 32 toheadphones 34 or speakers. Computer 28 preferably comprises a generalpurpose personal computer that employs an operating system such asMicrosoft Windows, Unix, or Apple Mac OS that runs application software.However, computer 28 may comprise a dedicated computer includingsuitable hardware and firmware that implements the functionality of theinvention 10. Further, the invention 10 may comprise a distributedsystem wherein the audio input 14 and display 30 comprises a voice-overIP (e.g., Internet video phone) or wireless input (e.g. cell phone witha visual display) and computer 28 comprises a remote server computerrunning the computer program 36.

Referring to FIG. 3, the invention 10 is embodied in a computer program36 that in the preferred embodiment runs as application software on thecomputer 28 (or is hardware/firmware implemented on a dedicatedcomputer) to display 38 the target pitch lines 18 on the display 30, todisplay 39 the target pitch boxes about the target pitch lines 18, toaudibly play 40 the tones of the target pitch lines 18 via the audiooutput 32 (if desired), to compute 42 the pitch tracking line 12 fromthe input 14 and to superimpose 43 the pitch tracking line 12 in realtime onto the target pitch lines 18 displayed on the display 30.

The computer program 36 determines the user's actual vocal range beforedisplaying 38 the desired pitch lines 18 on the display 30. The computerprogram 36 then transposes the song to be sung into the optimum key bestcorresponding to the user's actual vocal range. Apart from transposingthe song into a different key (e.g. C to G), the computer program 36 mayalso or alternatively move the arrangement of the song up or down one ormore octaves.

As used herein, the user's vocal range is the range of notes, fromlowest to highest, that the user can vocalize or sing comfortably. Thetwo steps in determining one's vocal range is to first sing up from alow note to a high note and second, to sing down from a high note to alow note.

More particularly, FIG. 4 depicts a Vocal Range Screen 45 with fouroctaves 450, with the “middle C” in the center. The Vocal Range Screen45 comprises two measures 45M, indicated at the bottom of the screen asMeasure 1 and Measure 2. Each measure 45M is divided into 4 beats 45B.

To begin vocal range measuring, four “count-off” or “lead-in” metronometicks are played via the headphones 34 to inform the user to get readyto sing. After the fourth tick, the user sings from a low tone to thehighest note that can be comfortably sung. The process is repeated froma high note to the lowest note that can be comfortably sung. FIG. 4 ashows the resulting pitch tracking lines 12L and 12H of an exemplaryuser that graphically illustrate the highest and lowest notes the usercomfortably sang.

The computer program 36 of the invention interpolates a line 46Hrelative to the highest notes and another line 46L relative to thelowest notes. The user-specific vocal range 46 comprises the differencebetween the interpolated lines representative of the user's highest andlowest notes. Using this user-specific vocal range, the computer program36 then transposes the song to the optimum key (or up or down one ormore octaves) and displays the transposed target pitch lines and boxesaccordingly.

FIG. 5 illustrates the preferred layout or “Sing Window” 48 fordisplaying 38 the desired pitch lines 18 on the display 30. The ordinate480 of the Sing Window 48 represents the transposed key of the song bestcorresponding to the user-specific vocal range 46. Diatonic notes areillustrated in the ordinate with normal brightness whereas non-diatonicnotes are illustrated in a reduced, grayed-out brightness. Theappearance of the diatonic and non-diatonic notes provides a visualdisplay to the user to facilitate singing in tune by visualizing thedistance between the notes to be sung. This also facilitates the skillsof improvisation. The abscissa 48A of the Sing Window 48 represents themeasures 48M and their beats 48B (e.g., for a 4/4 song each measure 48Mwould include four beats 48 b whereas for a ¾ song each measure 48Mwould include three beats 48 b).

For ease in explanation, the FIG. 5 illustrates the beginning of thesong “America The Beautiful” to be sung. Having previously determined,saved and now recalling from memory the user-specific vocal range, thekey of the song is transposed to best correspond to such user-specificvocal range 46. The vocal-range-adjusted notes 22 of the song are thendisplayed 30 in the Sing Window 48 by the target pitch lines 18displayed horizontally in the center of a generally rectangular targetpitch box 22B. The vertical placement of the target pitch line 18 ofeach target pitch box 22B is aligned relative to the ordinate 48O tocorrespond to the particular musical note (C, B, A, etc.).

The length 22L of each graphical pitch line 18 and hence the length 22Lof each target pitch box 22B corresponds to the beat of the respectivenote 22 (¼, ½, ¾ beat, etc.) to be sung. The words of the lyrics 22Wcorresponding to each note 22 of the song are preferably displayedunderneath each respective target pitch box 22B. Breath Rests 22R of thesong are preferably depicted in the Sing Window 48 as empty boxes thatserve as placeholders to signal when to take a breath.

As shown in FIG. 5 a as the user sings, the pitch tracking line 12 issuperimposed onto the Sing Window 48. When singing the song in tune, thepitch tracking line 12 roughly follows the respective target pitch lines18 for the notes and is therefore encompassed in the respective targetpitch boxes 22B whereas when singing the song out of tune or off beat,the pitch tracking line 12 falls outside the respective target pitchboxes 22B. The pitch tracking line 12 being displayed within the targetpitch box 22B is visually indicative of singing the song in tune and onbeat.

The skill level of singing the song in tune and on beat may be modifiedby reducing the height 22B of the target pitch boxes 22B and allowing atransition time 22T between adjacent target pitch boxes 22B,respectively.

More particularly, for purposes of illustrating the skill levels ofsinging in tune, FIGS. 5 b and 5 c illustrate the same pitch trackingline 18 for the “America The Beautiful” of FIG. 5 a, but withreduced-height target pitch boxes 22B. In comparison, the tall height22H, medium height 22H and low height 22H of the target pitch boxes 22Bof FIGS. 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, represents a “beginner”, “intermediate” and“expert” skill levels, respectively, because more accuracy in stayingwithin the target pitch boxes 22B (i.e., singing in tune) is required asthe heights of the target pitch boxes 22B are progressively decreasedproportional to the skill level.

For the purpose of illustrating the skill level to sing in rhythm (i.e.,to quickly transition from one note to another), FIGS. 5 d and 5 eillustrate “America The Beautiful” of FIG. 5 a, but with the length 22Lof the target pitch boxes 22B being increased to allow for a transitiontime between adjacent notes 22B. The transition time between adjacentnotes 22B is preferably represented visually by grayed-out or emptytransition boxes 22T at the end of each target pitch box 22B oroptionally at both the beginning and end of each target pitch box 22B.The length of the transition boxes 22T is preferably visually depictedin relation to 1/16, ⅛ or ¼ beats indicative of an “expert”,“intermediate” and “beginner” skill levels (FIGS. 5 e, 5 d & 5 c),respectively, because, as more transition time is allowed to beginsinging the next note, the easier it is to stay within the target pitchboxes 22B (i.e., singing in beat).

The percentage of time of singing the song in tune and on beat (i.e.,staying within the target pitch boxes 22B) versus out of tune (goingoutside the target pitch boxes 22B) or off-beat (transitioning outsidethe transition boxes 22T), may be used as a way of “scoring” howaccurately the user sang the song in tune and on beat. Moreparticularly, the computer program 36 of the invention computes theratio of the amount of time the user sang in tune and on beat by summingthe total time the pitch tracking line 12 fell within the respectivetarget pitch boxes 22B divided by the sum of the lengths of all thetarget pitch boxes 22B (specifically excluding the transition boxes22T). The ratio thus represents the user's “score” in singing in tuneand on beat.

While it shall be understood that the functionality of the featuresdiscussed above may be implemented with many layouts of the Sing Window48 without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, themost preferred layout of the Sing Window 48 is illustrated in FIG. 5 inwhich the Sing Window 48 is surrounded by a top toolbar 48TTB, a righttoolbar 48RTB, a bottom toolbar 48BTB and a bottom control panel 48CP.

The top toolbar 48TTB includes a Singing Selection button that opens aSinging Selection window. FIG. 6 illustrates the Singing Selectionwindow having tabs for allowing the user to select an easy, moderate orchallenging song that had been previously downloaded (and if sung bythis user, their previous scoring thereof), a series of exercises thatmay be sung (i.e., unisons, intervals or warm-ups), created songs,imported songs and downloaded songs.

The top toolbar 48TTB further includes a Vocal Range button that allowsthe user to manually override the user-specific vocal range 46 andselect a bass, baritone, tenor, alto, or soprano vocal range. The toptoolbar 48TTB further includes a Skill Level button allowing the user toselect the desired skill level. A toggle Sing/Compose button allows theuser to switch between the sing and compose modes of operation. Finally,the top toolbar 48TTB includes toggle Keyboard, Sheet Music, MixingBoard and Home buttons to switch to a view containing a representationof a keyboard, to the Sheet Music view, to a view containing a mixingboard and to return to the Home screen (see FIGS. 7 a, 7 b, 7 c and 7 d,respectively.

The right and bottom toolbars 48RTB and 48BTB comprise vertical andhorizontal sliders to allow the Sing Window 48 to be scrolled verticallyand horizontally, respectively. To change how much of a song appears inthe Sing window, the Sing Window may also be zoomed in or out on by zoomcontrols. The vertical zoom control is preferably located immediatelybelow the vertical slider on the right toolbar 48RTB and changes thenumber of pitch lines visible in the window. The horizontal zoom controlis preferably to the left of the horizontal slider on the bottom toolbar48BTB and changes the number of measures that appear in the Sing Window.

Best Fit and Vocal Range (VR) Fit buttons preferably located on thebottom toolbar 48BTB provide vertical display controls to adjust thevertical display so that the highest and lowest notes of a song orexercise will appear in the Sing Window without scrolling and to adjustthe vertical display so that the user-specific vocal range fits in thewindow.

The lower control panel 48CP allows the user to control how a song isplayed and includes a Metronome toggle button to turn a metronome soundon and off, a Time Signature toggle button to show the currentlyselected time signature, a Tempo selector button that displays thecurrent tempo and allows the tempo for the current song or exercise tobe increased or decreased, a Key selector button that allows the user tochange the key for the current song, thereby overriding the manuallyoptimum key that corresponds to the user-specific vocal range, Melodyand Accompaniment toggle buttons to turn on and off the melody andaccompaniment (i.e., a cappella) during playing, Volume Controlsselector buttons including a Master Volume slider, a Melody slider andan Accompaniment slider, Transport buttons for clearing the display andpreparing for a new session, for rewinding by moving the vertical cursorto the beginning of a song, for playing what is displayed and forstopping the playing. It is noted that the current position in the songbeing played is indicated by a vertical cursor line.

The invention may be used by two or more singers to practice theirsinging. More particularly, in the case of two users as shown in FIGS. 8a and 8 b, either two pitch tracking lines (one for each user) may bedisplayed in the same Sing Window or two Sing Windows (one for eachuser) may be displayed in a stacked arrangement, each with their own orindividually-used toolbars and control panels discussed above.Similarly, four users may be displayed in four Sing Windows displayed infour quadrants of a display or, if two displays are available (i.e.,adjacent monitors) the four users may be displayed in two stacked SingWindows in each of the displays. For multiple users, it is noted thatthe computer 28 would include multiple inputs 14 (e.g., separate audiocards or USB ports) for the user's respective microphones 16.

As shown in FIG. 9, the computer program 36 of the invention allows auser to create a song via a Compose Window by simply creating thedesired length target pitch boxes 22B for each note of the song beingcreated. Further, the desired lyrics of the song may be textuallyentered at the bottom of each target pitch box 22B. Once created, thesong may be saved to memory and played in the same manner as anypreviously-recorded song.

As depicted in the Home Screen of FIG. 7 d, Singing Mode buttons areprovided for a Singing Lessons utility, the Sing Songs utility and theCompose Songs utility. Option buttons are included for a Sign-In utilityto allow a user to sign in, for a Microphone Check utility to verify theperformance of the microphone 16 and for the Vocal Range utility tocreate a user-specific Vocal Range or to retrieve from memory onepreviously created to then be used or modified. Finally, the Home Screenfurther includes More Songs and Demo buttons for accessing an On-LineMusic Store to purchase songs, an Import utility for importing songs anda Demonstration utility for demonstrating, via a recorded audio/video,the various features of the computer program 36.

The foregoing has described the functionality of the subject inventionin general terms without reference to any particular proprietary orindustry-standard format for the song files. It should be appreciatedthat while many file formats are possible, the preferred embodiment ofthe subject invention is best implemented through the use ofindustry-standard MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) fileformats for the songs to be played. By way of background, every MIDIsong file comprises performance data recorded by a MIDI sequencer in theform of well-defined MIDI structures including sequential status bytesand corresponding data bytes that together define a communicationsprotocol for instructing a MIDI synthesizer how to play the song. Unlikea WAV or other analog recording of a song, a MIDI file does not containany analog data. A more complete description of MIDI files may be foundin The Complete MIDI 1.0 Detailed Specification, the disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein, available from the MIDIManufacturers Association's website www.midi.org.

More particularly, when a particular song is to be displayed on the SingWindow 48, the computer program of the invention 36 reads the MIDI fileof that particular song from memory (e.g., hard disk, CD-ROM, etc.) andinterprets the MIDI structures to ascertain the status bytes and thedata bytes for each note and its duration, as well as the key, melodyand the accompaniment. From this interpreted MIDI information, thecomputer program has all of the information needed to draw the SingWindow 48 target pitch lines in the Sing Window 48. The computer programthen draws the target pitch boxes 22B about the target pitch lines atthe desired skill level. The target pitch boxes are then used to thencompute the baseline for scoring.

As the user sings the song, the computer program 36 records the user'svoice in analog form such as in a time-stamped WAV file corresponding tothe MIDI song file. A pitch tracking algorithm in the computer programcomputes the X-Y coordinates of the pitch tracking line and time-stampsthem to superimpose them on the Sing Window. The coordinates and timestamps of the pitch tracking line are saved to a control filecorresponding to the WAV file whereupon the control file may besubsequently read to reconstruct the pitch tracking line of the user'sprevious singing of the song and displayed on the Sing Window with thetarget pitch boxes 22B. Alternatively, instead of storing thecoordinates and time stamps of the pitch tracking line in a controlfile, the pitch tracking line may be simply recomputed upon the playingof the WAV file to replay the previously-recorded singing of the song.

The computer program may change the song's key, melody and accompanimentby changing the corresponding status and data bytes of the MIDI songfile before playing. Upon playback, the computer program plays the MIDIfile and the voice file in separate threads such that they aresynchronized during playback.

As noted above, the computer program allows a user to compose a song.Composed songs are preferably sequenced by the computer program into aMIDI file and stored as a MIDI file to be played as noted above insynchrony with the user's WAV file containing his or her voice.

In an alternative embodiment, the present invention provides a methodfor teaching students how to read. In fact, utilizing one embodiment ofthe present invention, middle school students improved their readinggrade levels 1 to 3 grades in just nine weeks! This innovative approachaddresses the five big areas of reading: (1) phonemic awareness; (2)phonics; (3) vocabulary; (4) fluency; and (5) comprehension.

This innovative approach to teaching relies upon a student's independentreading level, instructional reading level and frustration readinglevel. The independent (or free) reading level is the level at which astudent can read text without a teacher's assistance. The instructionalreading level is the level at which a student is challenged by thereading material, but is not yet frustrated by the material. Theinstructional reading level is the level at which a student shouldreceive reading instruction. At the instructional reading level, thestudent reads with teacher guidance, and is challenged enough tocontinue reading grown.

The frustration reading level is the level at which a student hassufficient difficulty with the material that the student is frustratedby the materials. At the frustration reading level, the student can notread text adequately, and the student frequently shows signs ofdiscomfort. Unfortunately, with current teaching techniques, studentsare too often called upon to continue to attempt to improve theirreading abilities through assignments that present the student only withfrustration reading level materials.

Through the present invention, students are taught to read based uponthe individual student's own reading and learning capability, as opposedto the generalized classroom approach wherein each student must advanceor stall based upon the collective progress of the entire class. Usingthe present invention, a student is first presented with an improvementof a Cloze test in order to determine the student's instruction andfrustration reading levels.

Typical Cloze tests provide a user with a section of prose, whereinfifty words have been omitted from the section. The user is then calledupon to provide the missing words. This is typically done in a manualfashion, where the student writes down his or her answers, and a teacherdetermines what percentage the student correctly scored. Unfortunately,all too often, teachers give credit to students for answers that are not100% correct (such as a misspelling) or fail to give credit for properanswers (such as when a teacher inadvertently marks a correct answerwrong).

As is evident from FIG. 10, the present invention improves upon thisCloze testing approach by interactively presenting the student with theCloze test. The student is presented with two separate boxes ofinformation. As shown in prose box 101, the student is presented with asection of text, wherein twenty-five words have been omitted. Theseomitted words are indicated to the student by way of blanks 101 a. Inthe deleted words box 102, the user is provided twenty-five words thathave been removed from the prose displayed in the prose box 101.

The student then navigates through the text in prose box 101 by fillingin the missing words. While it is obvious to one of ordinary skill inthe art, preferably a student can utilize the tab key on his or herkeyboard to move from one blank 101 a to the next.

Once the student has completed the test, the student indicates he or sheis finished by way of the button 103. This activity logs the studentsresults for the teacher's review. Moreover, as discussed in detailbelow, the student's test results are utilized in determining whichinstructional reading level and which frustration reading level thestudent has achieved.

FIG. 10 describes the aspect of the invention for determining thestudent's instructional and frustration reading levels. Preferably, theinvention is embodied in a computer program. This computer program canbe run on a dedicated machine, or, more preferably, presented to a classof students (or entire school, county or other larger grouping) by wayof a client-server implementation wherein the students interact with thesystem through clients which are interconnected to a server or serverspracticing this invention. In one preferred embodiment, SunMicrosystem's Java Web Start technology is utilized as a platform forseamlessly and efficiently delivering applications embodying the presentinvention to the users. It is worth noting that the users includestudents, teachers, administrators and others who benefit from theteachings of the present invention.

FIG. 11 describes the process used in evaluating a student's readinglevels. As can be seen at step 202, the student to be tested iscurrently in the sixth grade. As is readily known, and most unfortunate,this does not mean that the sixth grade student can read at the level ofa sixth grader. In fact, at step 204, the student's teacher assesses thestudent at the fourth grade reading level. This assessment is asubjective determination made by the teacher, and serves as a baselinefor entry into the logic described in the remainder of FIG. 11.

As shown at step 206, the student is then presented with a Cloze test atthe fourth grade level.

As part of the configuration of the current invention, Cloze tests areprepared and classified into different reading levels. For instance,Cloze tests that are appropriate for first grade reading level areclassified as such. At step 208, the student's test results areanalyzed, as discussed in more detail below. If the test results are ata frustration level, the process moves to step 210, wherein the studentis re-tested at the third grade level. Note, the student has beendropped down a grade as it has been determined that reading at thefourth grade level would not be beneficial to this student.Alternatively, as depicted at step 220, if the student was comfortablereading at the fourth grade level, the system of the present inventionre-tests the student at the fifth grade level. This is done so that thestudent's frustration reading level may determined, as will be describedin more detail below. Regardless of whether the test results at step 208indicate that the student was at the frustration level or theindependent or instruction level, the process continues.

FIG. 11A describes in more detail the methodology utilized indetermining whether the student should be tested at a higher or lowergrade level during the next iteration of the testing. When the studentis tested, for example at step 206, a score is generated. This generatedscore is then compared to two thresholds, a high threshold 1110, and alow threshold 1112. While FIG. 11 a depicts a chart utilizingpercentages as the basis for a student's scores, it would be obvious toone skilled in the art that any means of comparing results wouldsuffice.

If the student's score falls in the range 1106 below the low threshold1112, the student is determined to be at the frustration level, and thenext iteration of testing should be at a lower level.

If the student's score falls in the range 1104 between the low threshold1112 and high threshold 1110, the student is determined to be at theinstructional reading level. If this is the first time the student'sscore has been in the range between the low threshold 1112 and highthreshold 1110, the system gives the student another chance, byadvancing the student to the next highest reading level, to see if thestudent is also instructional at that level. If the student has alreadyscored in this range 1104 on a lower reading level, there is no longer aneed to test the student any further, as the student is determined to beat this instructional reading level.

For example, if the student is tested at the fourth grade instructionalreading level and scores between the low threshold 1112 and highthreshold 1110, indicating the student is instructional at the fourthgrade, the student will be tested again, but this time at the fifthgrade reading level. If the student's result from testing at the fifthgrade level also falls between the low threshold 1112 and high threshold1110, testing of the student is complete, as at this stage the studentis determined to be at the fifth grade reading level.

Returning to FIG. 11A, if the student's score falls in the range 1102above the high threshold 1110, the student is determined to be at theinstructional reading level and should be tested again at a higherreading level.

Returning to FIG. 11, as can be seen at step 212, the student's resultsfrom the testing at the third grade level are once again analyzed.Again, if the student's results indicate he or she is frustrated, thegrading will be reduced a level as shown in 214. Alternatively, if thestudent's scores indicate he or she is comfortable reading at the thirdgrade level, the testing stops at the third grade level as indicated in216. Similarly, as shown at 214 a and 214 b, a determination is madeconcerning the student's results from taking the second grade readinglevel test. If the test results are at the frustration level, asindicated in 214 a, the system notes that the student is reading at thefirst grade level. On the other hand, if the student's results fromtaking the second grade reading level test at step 214 indicate that thestudent is at an independent or instructional level, then the studentwill be noted at being at the second grade level.

The flow chart under step 220 follows the same approach. Namely,analyzing the test results and then making a determination whether toadvance the student or whether the student has reached his or herfrustration level. This determination is made at step 222. As can beseen at step 224, it has been determined that advancing the student tothe fifth grade level indicated the student was frustrated reading atthe fifth grade level. Thus, the student was marked as a fourth gradereading level student. This was because, as shown in step 208, thestudent was comfortable reading at the fourth grade level. Thus, itwould be proper for this student to practice, as described below, atthis fourth grade reading level. Alternatively, if the student's scoresat step 222 still indicate that he or she is at the instructional orindependent level, the system will continue advancing the student to thenext level in this case, the next level, the sixth grade reading level.As before, at step 228, the student's reading score from step 226 willbe analyzed to determine if the student has hit his or her frustrationlevel, as described at step 230.

The end result of the process depicted in the chart 200 is adetermination of the reader's frustration reading level and independentor instructional reading level. This instructional reading level is thelevel that is used for providing material for the student to practice onso that he or she may improve his or her reading capabilities. Oncethese capabilities have been determined, the student follows acurriculum designed and tailored for students reading at the appropriatereading level. In other words, if the system determines that the studentis reading at the instructional fourth grade level, then the studentwill be presented with a current curriculum appropriate for a fourthgrade reader.

The system is preconfigured with appropriate curricula for the variousstudent skill levels. Teachers may also log into the system and assignappropriate singing, reading and speaking assignments to various gradecategories as shown in FIG. 12. FIG. 12 depicts the Lesson Maker 300utilized by teachers for preparing allocating assignments to students.As shown in box 302 on the left side, all of the teacher's classes arelisted. In this case, the teacher who is logged into the lesson makeronly has one class titled “Reading Idols”. As can be seen below “ReadingIdols” in 302, all of the students belonging to that class are listed.

On the right side of the Lesson Marker 300, in 304, the exercises thatare available in this system are listed and available for the teacher toassign to particular students. Under “Exercises”, there can be numerouscategories. As shown in 304, there are three: “Read,” “Sing” and“Speak.” Under each of these categories, there are classificationsdepending upon the appropriate grade level. Thus, reading exercises thatare appropriate for a grade nine student would be classified under the“Read” and then “Gray Grade 9” folder. As can be seen in 304, “Civil WarDoctor” and the “Star Spangled Banner” are reading exercises which areappropriate for a ninth grade reader. Similarly, four songs are listedunder the “Grade 7” classification for singing exercises. These foursongs are “America the Beautiful,” “America the Beautiful Short,” “Downby the Riverside” and “Down by the Riverside Short.”

Using the Lesson Maker depicted in 300, the teacher selects appropriateexercises from the right side 304 and drags them to appropriate studentson the left side 302. It is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the artthat a teacher can select multiple exercises or multiple classificationsand drag them into multiple students or even into the entire class“Reading Idols.” Once the teacher has completed assigning a curriculumusing the Lesson Maker 300, the students will then be able to improvetheir reading capabilities by signing and reading and speaking exercisesat the appropriate level.

Using the present invention as described in the alternative embodimentsabove, the student will practice with the exercises that are deemedappropriate for that student's reading level. Thus, if the student is atthe fourth grade reading level, the student will practice with songs andother exercises that are appropriate for a fourth grade reading levelstudent. As has been proven with local students, students can experiencesignificant increases in their reading capabilities utilizing theteachings of the present invention.

As alluded to above, there are numerous different types of exercisesthat can be presented to students to assist them in improving theirreading capabilities, including singing, reading, and speaking. As isobvious to one skilled in the art, this list is merely exemplary.Singing exercises are as described above in significant detail. Studentsselect songs from their assigned curriculum and sing them repeatedly.This has the effect of requiring students to read and re-read text, butin an entertaining fashion.

Reading exercises work in the same manner as the Cloze tests that arepresented to the student in determining the student's instructional andfrustration reading levels.

Speaking exercises provide the student with a selection of text for theuser to read and speak. Additionally, the system of the presentinvention provides for playing the text to the student so that thestudent can hear how the text should properly be read. Furthermore, thestudent can control the speed at which the text is read to the student,without altering the pitch or pronunciation. This allows the student tocontrol which areas of the text to focus on.

The student is also able to select a portion of the text to read back.In doing this, the system will audibly read to the user the user'sselected text. Then, the user can speak the same selected text into amicrophone or other audio input device connected to the system. Usingspeech recognition techniques, the system compares the student's spokenwords against that of a native speaker acoustical model. The system thenprovides feedback to the student concerning how well the student spokethe selected text.

One way the system provides feedback to the students during speakingexercises is by highlighting parts of the text that the user had troublespeaking. For instance, if a student had problems with only the firstletter of a word, only that first letter will be highlighted.Alternatively, if a student had difficulty with the entire word, theentire word will be brought to the user's attention. Similarly, if auser did not read a word or words, the system will call this to thereader's attention.

The system identifies the individual phonemes that comprise the lettersof the mispronounced words. To assist the students and teachers, thesystem gathers and statistically analyzes and reports on themispronounced phonemes. This enables students to understand more fullywhere they have having difficulties. Similarly, this enables teachers tobetter gauge the performance of his or her entire classroom. The systemuses this information to provide a score. This enables the student tofurther monitor her progress by improving her score as she improves herreading.

The system also can be utilized to improve pronunciation. For instance,non-native English speakers can use this system to refine and improvetheir pronunciation so as to reduce and potentially eliminate anyaccents or other speech variations. For instance, offshore call centersmay require their telephone representatives to qualify before puttingthem in contact with their customers. This qualification procedure couldinclude utilizing the present invention so as to score an adequate scoreduring these reading exercises.

The user is also able to store and playback her recorded speech. Thisallows users to hear how they sound when they are reading the passagethey have been presented with.

Additionally, the present invention is beneficial in teaching a studentforeign languages, as well as different dialects and accents. Forinstance, in one embodiment of the present invention, marketed under thename Tune in™ To Mandarin (“TIM”), the pitch tracking line is used inassisting the student to learn the tonality of Mandarin in a visualfashion. As will be described below, TIM leverages the power of music tohelp English-speaking students master the tonality of spoken Mandarin.Through this approach, students are presented with classic songs ofearly childhood in China. This enables the student to not only learn thevocabulary of the foreign language, but also master the rhythm and toneof the language, in the same manner that native speakers learn. As wouldbe obvious to one of ordinary skill, this approach can be used to teachany language, accent or dialect.

FIG. 13 provides a flow chart to assist in describing TIM. At step 402,the student is presented with a pre-recorded Mandarin nursery rhyme.This nursery rhyme is audibly provided to the student as sung by anative Mandarin speaker. Through step 402, the student is able to hearhow the nursery rhyme should properly be sung and pronounced. Asdescribed at step 404, while the student is listening to the nativespeaker's singing of the nursery rhyme, the user also watches the pitchtracking line as described throughout this disclosure. The pitchtracking line in this situation is tracking the native Mandarinspeaker's rendition of the Mandarin nursery rhyme. As shown in FIG. 14,the pitch tracking line 502 allows the user to follow the nativespeaker's singing visually.

At step 406, the student sings the Mandarin nursery rhyme. While doingso, a second pitch tracking line 504 is drawn on the display. Throughthis approach, the student attempts to match her own tracking line tothat of the native Mandarin speaker's. Finally, as shown at step 408,the student continues singing until her pitch tracking line closelyfollows the tracking line established from the native Mandarin speaker.

The present invention also provides a method for recording a user'spersonal “Singtone” as described in FIG. 15. As has becomeextraordinarily popular, the telephone ringer in cellular telephones andother portable communication devices has been replaced to a large degreewith what are commonly known as ringtones. Generally, a ringtone is asound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call. Recently, theterm has been used to describe customized sounds used in mobilecommunication devices. Typically, users download or pay a carrier orother provider for access to these customized ringtones. Through thepresent invention, however, users are able to record their own singing,and deliver that to their mobile telephones and other mobilecommunication devices.

FIG. 15 provides a flowchart explaining the creation and delivery ofSingtones. At 602, the user first records a song that she would like toutilize as a Singtone. Next, at 604, the system saves the user'srecording as an Singtone, capable of being delivered to and utilized ona mobile communications device. At 606 and 608, the user entersinformation sufficient to direct the Singtone to the appropriate mobilecommunications device, such as the user's mobile telephone. Finally, at610, the Singtone is sent to the mobile communications device so that itmay be used as a ringtone.

The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended claims,as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this inventionhas been described in its preferred form with a certain degree ofparticularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of thepreferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerouschanges in the details of construction and the combination andarrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

1. A method of teaching reading comprising: determining a user's actualvocal range; displaying, by an application executing on a computingdevice, a singing exercise on a display, the singing exercise configuredto allow the user to sing along as a song is played; displaying, by theapplication executing on the computing device, on the display, lyrics ofthe song as the song is played, thus allowing the user to read thelyrics as the user sings along to the song; monitoring, by theapplication executing on a computing device, an audio input as the songis played; computing a pitch tracking line from the audio input;displaying the pitch tracking line on the display within respectivetarget pitch areas whereby the target pitch areas are transposed into anoptimum key corresponding to the user's actual vocal range; calculating,by the application executing on the computing device, a scorerepresenting how accurately the audio input matches the song; andproviding, by the application executing on the computing device, thescore of how accurately the audio input matches the song.
 2. The methodof claim 1 further comprising: calculating, by the application executingon the computing device, the score representing how accurately in timeand in rhythm the audio input matches the song.
 3. The method of claim 1whereby the pitch tracking line visually appears within the respectivetarget pitch areas when the pitch of the audio input is substantially intune with the targeted pitch of the target pitch line therein by apredefined amount.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the pitch trackingline is displayed in real time as the song is played and the audio inputis monitored.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein each target pitch line iscentered within its respective target pitch area.
 6. The method of claim3 wherein at least one of the target pitch areas comprises a heightindicative of the degree of the audio input being substantially in tunewith the targeted pitch of the target pitch line therein.
 7. The methodof claim 6 further comprising reducing the height of at least one of thetarget pitch areas to increase the degree of the audio input beingsubstantially in tune with the targeted pitch of the target pitch linetherein.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein reducing the height of atleast one of the target pitch areas comprises allowing a selection ofbeginner, intermediate, and expert skill levels respectivelycorresponding to the target pitch area including an increased height, amedium height or a reduced height.
 9. The method of claim 3 wherein atleast one of the target pitch areas comprises a length substantiallyequal to the length of the respective target pitch line.
 10. The methodof claim 9 further comprising reducing the length of at least one of thetarget pitch areas to define a transition time with an adjacent targetpitch area.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein reducing the length of atleast one of the target pitch areas comprises allowing selection ofexpert, intermediate and beginner skill levels respectivelycorresponding to the target pitch area including a reduced length, afurther reduced length, and a still further reduced length.
 12. Themethod of claim 10 wherein reducing the length of at least one of thetarget pitch areas occurs at the beginning of the target pitch areas.13. The method of claim 10 wherein reducing the length of at least oneof the target pitch areas occurs at the beginning and at the end of thetarget pitch areas.
 14. The method of claim 1 wherein the audible inputcomprises a microphone.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the audioinput further comprises the user singing along to the song.
 16. Themethod of claim 15 further comprising positioning the lyrics proximateto the respective target pitch areas and wherein the target pitch linesrepresent the musical notes of the song, whereby visualization of thepitch tracking line and target pitch areas provides a real-time visualfeedback of the pitch of the user's voice relative to each note of thesong being sung to aid the user to sing in tune with the notes of thesong.
 17. The method of claim 15 further comprising displaying text tobe read positioned proximate to the respective target pitch areas andwherein the target pitch lines represent tones of the text to be read,whereby visualization of the pitch tracking line and target pitch areasprovides a real-time visual feedback of the pitch of the user's voicerelative to the text being read to aid the user to better learn thetext.
 18. The method of claim 1 whereby determining a user's actualvocal range further comprises: monitoring the audio input as the usersings to the top of the user's vocal range; monitoring the audio inputas the user sings to the bottom of the user's vocal range; andestablishing the user's actual vocal range based upon the top of theuser's vocal range and the bottom of the user's vocal range.
 19. Themethod as set forth in claim 3, further including determining the user'sactual vocal range and moving the target pitch lines up or down one ormore octaves.
 20. The method of claim 18 wherein determining the user'sactual vocal range comprises instructing the user to first sing up froma low note to a high note and then sing down from a high note to a lownote, and defining the vocal range as the range between the highest noteand the lowest note detected by the audio input.
 21. The method of claim18 wherein displaying the lyrics includes displaying the lyrics in adisplay window in which the ordinate of the window represents thetransposed key best corresponding to the user-specific vocal range andthe abscissa represents the measures and their beats of the target pitchlines.
 22. The method as set forth in claim 21, further comprisingdisplaying diatonic notes and non-diatonic notes along the ordinate. 23.The method of claim 3 further including the step of displaying at leastone empty area between adjacent target pitch areas to signal when theuser should take a breath.
 24. The method of claim 3 wherein computingthe score includes computing the total time the pitch tracking lineappeared within the target pitch areas relative to the cumulative lengthof the target pitch areas indicative of the percentage of time the pitchtracking line was in tune with the target pitch areas.
 25. The method ofclaim 3 wherein computing the score includes computing the total timethe pitch tracking line appeared within the target pitch areas relativeto the cumulative length of the target pitch areas indicative of thepercentage of time the pitch tracking line was in tune and on beat withthe target pitch areas.
 26. The method of claim 1 further comprisingdisplaying a toolbar, wherein the toolbar includes at least one of: asinging selection button configured to allow the user to select amongexercises, created songs, imported songs and downloaded songs; a vocalrange button configured to allow the user to manually select a bass,baritone, tenor, alto, or soprano vocal range; a skill level buttonconfigured to allow the user to select the desired skill level; asing/compose button configured to allow the user to switch between asing mode of operation and a compose mode of operation; a toggle buttonconfigured to switch a current view to one or more of: a view containinga representation of a keyboard, a view containing a representation ofsheet music; a view containing a mixing board; a view containing a homescreen; vertical or horizontal sliders configured to allow the window tobe scrolled vertically and horizontally, respectively; zoom buttons tochange how much of a song appears in the window; and best fit or vocalrange buttons to allow the highest and lowest notes to appear in thewindow without scrolling and to adjust the vertical display so that theuser-specific vocal range fits in the window.
 27. The method of claim 1further comprising displaying a control panel, wherein the control panelincludes one or more of: a metronome toggle button to turn a metronomesound on and off; a time signature toggle button to show the currentlyselected time signature; a tempo selector button that displays thecurrent tempo and allows the tempo for the current song or exercise tobe increased or decreased; a key selector button that allows the user tochange the key for the current song; melody and accompaniment togglebuttons to turn on and off the melody and accompaniment during playing;volume controls selector buttons; and transport buttons for clearing thedisplay and preparing for a new session, for rewinding by moving thevertical cursor to the beginning of a song, for playing what isdisplayed and for stopping the playing.
 28. The method of claim 1further comprising displaying a cursor line indicating the currentposition of the song being played.
 29. The method of claim 3 furthercomprising computing a plurality of pitch tracking lines from respectiveplurality audio inputs; and displaying one or more pitch tracking linesfrom the plurality pitch tracking lines on the display.
 30. The methodof claim 29 wherein displaying the one or more pitch tracking lines fromthe plurality of pitch tracking lines comprises displaying the one ormore pitch tracking lines one or more respective displays.
 31. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the song comprises a MIDI file.
 32. The methodof claim 31 further comprising interpreting the MIDI file to ascertainstatus bytes and data bytes for each note and its duration, as well asthe key, melody and the accompaniment to display to the target pitchlines.
 33. The method of claim 31 further including changing the song'skey, melody and accompaniment by changing the corresponding status anddata bytes of the MIDI song file before playing.
 34. The method of claim31 wherein the audio input is saved in an analog file corresponding tothe MIDI file.
 35. The method as set forth in claim 34, whereincoordinates of the pitch tracking line are computed for display andsaved to a control file corresponding to the analog file.
 36. The methodof claim 3 wherein the lyrics are lyrics in a foreign language.
 37. Themethod of claim 36 further comprising displaying a pitch tracking lineof a native speaker of the foreign language as the song is played, thusallowing the user to match the user's pitch tracking line to the pitchtracking line of the native speaker of the foreign language.
 38. Themethod of claim 36 wherein the foreign language is a tonal language. 39.A system comprising: a computing device; a display; an audio input; andan application executing on the computing device, the applicationconfigured to cause the computing device to perform operationscomprising: determining a user's actual vocal range; displaying asinging exercise on the display, the singing exercise configured toallow a user to sing along as a song is played; displaying lyrics of thesong on the display as the song is played, thus allowing the user toread the lyrics as the user sings along to the song; monitoring theaudio input as the song is played; computing a pitch tracking line fromthe audio input; displaying the pitch tracking line on the displaywithin respective target pitch areas whereby the target pitch areas aretransposed into an optimum key corresponding to the user's actual vocalrange; calculating a score representing how accurately the audio inputmatches the song; and providing the score of how accurately the audioinput matches the song.